The ‘10-rupee doctor’

At a nondescript hospital in Agali, in the tribal hamlet of Attappadi in Kerala, India, people wait patiently to see Doctor V Narayanan. A paediatrician by specialization, the 47-year-old doubles as the physician for the people there. And the fee is for the patients to decide. Having started serving those in the tribal settlement way back in 2002, he has now come to be called fondly the ‘10-rupee doctor’. The hospital set up under his initiative — the Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission ( svmm ) Hospital — is known as the ‘10-rupee hospital’. “I have known Dr Narayanan for 15 years. My husband is suffering from bodily pain ... Only `10 is collected as a token fee, and on many occasions, medicines are provided for free”, said a woman who was at the hospital. Dr Narayanan says it is difficult to effect a change in the whole of the tribal ...